On paper, the first road test for ASU, a contest at the University of San Diego, should not have been daunting at all. Nonetheless, a game where the Sun Devils led for over 30 minutes turned into a nightmare that saw a four-game winning streak come to a screeching halt. Here are our takeaways from the Sun Devils 89-84 loss.
Atrocious second half defensive performance
What we saw on this end of the court from the Sun Devils was jaw-dropping for all the wrong reasons. 61 points scored, 9-17 from three-point range and 26 points yielded in the paint. It makes you wonder how the hosts didn’t lead in the second half until the 4:51 mark, but once they did, they never looked back. Their veteran head coach, Steve Lavin, did a formidable job winning the chess match, having a team full of freshmen settle down after a first half where they let ASU’s press defense get to them and used his halftime instructions to combat that. Their ball movement around the perimeter saw them convert long-range shots at a clip you would see in the five-on-air segments in practice. ASU’s concern with those jump shots allowed San Diego to penetrate the paint and use it successfully to challenge Arizona State in an aspect where, even during their recent wins has registered as a sore spot. 11 fast break points in the second half also exposed a poor transition defense by the visitors.
The level of defense that Arizona State displayed tonight was problematic, to say the least, but at the same time, not indicative of their usual performance. Yet if San Diego truly provided the blueprint for future Sun Devil opponents to follow, then what has generally been a strength for ASU could potentially be exploited on a more frequent basis, threatening overall prospects of the season.
Impatient offense dooms ASU in the last 20 minutes
As much as a 12-29 three-point shooting display is a stat that you would gladly want to replicate every game for a team that struggles in the halfcourt offense, such as ASU, and one that is bound to see zone defenses employed often against them like they did tonight, this can spell trouble, and it did for Arizona State. When those shots were not falling, it led to the aforementioned issues in transition defense when San Diego mounted a successful comeback.
ASU was content to run but had to slow down the pace when they lost the momentum and when San Diego appeared closer and closer to tilting the scales in their favor. It may not have been a raucous road environment, but still one where the Sun Devils had to employ a more measurable approach to keep the game in their control. Perhaps you can chalk this up to a team with ten newcomers that now also has to learn how to win on the road, and even if this proves to be one the weakest opponents on the schedule, it's one that provided a brutally honest assessment for ASU and its current capabilities of coming away with a road win.
Free throws provide costly
Arizona State’s free throw performance has to be one of the most frustrating reoccurring themes in virtually every ASU contest, even in victory. Obviously, in close losses, this is an element that proves to be even more painful, especially in light of the fact that it really does not have to do much with overall game philosophy or in-game adjustments but rather rooted in one of the core fundamentals of the game that has often been the bane of the team’s existence.
Missing four free throws in the first half prevented Arizona State from going down to the locker room with a bigger lead that could provide a cushion that would prove valuable in the second half. But missing six free throws in the last 20 minutes could be classified as inexcusable as it directly contributed to a successful comeback win by the hosts.
ASU point guard Frankie Collins missed the front end of a one-and-one with 5:11 left in the game and missed another free throw that could have tied the game with 27 seconds left.
For all the improved components of his game, the fact that Collins has been shooting just 61 percent from the free-throw line so far this season has to be one of the most maddening statistics of this team. His change in philosophy, not settling for the jump shot, even though he improved quite a bit in that department and attacking the paint, is one that can prove ineffective if the clip of his free throw shooting does not better itself this year.
There were definitely worse performances in this area, mainly freshman guard Braelon Green, who was fouled during a three-point attempt yet proceeded to miss all of his three free throws, as well as guard Jose Perez, who is always aggressive driving to the paint but doesn’t always make his opponent pay as he missed three free throws tonight.
There’s no question that this team does put an emphasis on free throw shooting each time they practice, but it does seem like it is one aspect that still does not show any notable improvement during the season, and in close contests, is an aspect that you can, unfortunately, count on adversely impacting ASU.
Brycen Long’s Breakout
For the ASU fans who were wondering why the local Gilbert High School standout who transferred to Tempe from Houston Christian was not seeing more playing time are only repeating that question after tonight’s game. The guard last played on November 29th and scored only three points in three contests played going into this matchup. But against San Diego, he accounted for 15 of his team’s 18 bench points, was perfect from three-point range, sinking in all four of his shot attempts, as well as adding three free throws (a perfect performance as well), which of course came after being fouled on a shot attempt beyond The arc.
Along with San Francisco forward transfer Zane Meeks, Long is considered to be a three-point specialist on the team, and with Meeks still rehabbing from injury, the contributions that the Sun Devils are getting from Long are unquestionably significant.
He was arguably the lone bright spot for Arizona State and has more than proven his worth to the team. In fairness, his defensive performance needs to improve to grant him consistent significant minutes each game, but it’s not like any of his other teammates in the backcourt turned in stellar performances in that department, especially in the second half. Curious to see if Long can parlay this performance into similar displays in the upcoming weeks because if he can do that, this is a major contribution to the Sun Devil offense.
A loss that greatly taints your NCAA tournament resume
The whole idea behind Bobby Hurley’s non-conference scheduling approach is to showcase to the committee on Selection Sunday that ASU played a challenging schedule and did well navigating those waters. Needless to say, tonight’s loss defeats that purpose due to the fact that San Diego was ranked No. 226 in the KenPom rankings.
Granted, it would have been only slightly worse if this result took place on a neutral site, let alone in Tempe, but it is still a result that ASU will have to counter with an impressive win or two. It has only two remaining non-conference contests, on the road at TCU (No. 38 in KenPom) and on a neutral site (locally at Footprint Center) facing Northwestern (No. 49). While the chances of the Sun Devils prevailing in both games is low, only back-to-back victories during those matchups can negate what took place in San Diego.
There are going to be plenty of games in Pac-12 play facing squads infinitely more talented than San Diego. Maybe this is recency bias, but seeing tonight Arizona obliterate Wisconsin, Utah beat undefeated BYU, and Washington upset No. 7 Gonzaga, you realize the difficulty level that the conference slate will present.
Time will tell if this loss was truly an aberration and that maybe the confidence that ASU gained in a four-game winning streak was not indicative of the true talent level of this team.
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